trading tv for worship

i love having background noise. while doing homework.chores.cleaning.cooking.crafting. lately my background noise has been tv shows on netflix...episode after episode has been playing the past few weeks while i go about doing whatever needed to be done around the house. a couple days ago i came home from work to the boy playing 'how he loves us' on his guitar. i felt a tug on my heart. a thought popped into my head, 'now this is background noise'. he continued to play while i cooked dinner and i reflected on these last weeks. there has been a difference in my attitude.thoughts.perspective. i decided to substitute my tv shows for worship music for a week...it's been four days now, and i can't even begin to say how much of a blessing it's been. i've added david crowder band's 'how he loves us' with the lyrics...i can seriously have this song on repeat for hours.

saturday night love

saturday night was one of those perfect nights. worship.laughter.friends.food.crafts. after work i rushed home to pick up the boy and we meet one of our most favorite couples at church for the evening service.  then we out to eat using a christmas gift card :) after our stomachs couldn't handle any more complimentary bread, we took our left overs {plus more bread} back to our place. the boys played video games, and we tried not to get in their line of vision as we crafted this together:

i love crafting with nicole because we finish each other sentences

and we get wayyy excited about everything

she's much more enthusiastic about my crafting adventures than the boy

...go figure! 

i had gotten these hearts forever ago on clearance

originally it was two sets of three that were connected together

but we cut them up and hung them from the ceiling instead.

branch look familiar? reused and wrapped in sparkly heart wire.

i made these last year

scrape book pictures cut up and backed on pink paper

then inserted in dollar tree picture frames.

{please excuse the dust..from poking holes in that lovely popcorn ceiling of ours}

this little section of the apartment makes me so happy 

not to mention getting to hang out with both of our boys home

life is good :)

weddings galore and a proud wife

the boy and i have four back to back weekend weddings this summer

bridesmaid in three..groomsman in two 

which means...

one wedding we will be in together :)

andrew and courtney

well this crazy duo made a wedding site..and this was the description for my boy

Ross is another life long friend of Andrew's.  He and Andrew grew up playing sports together, watching each others dogs, and trying to think of ways to out smart Jeremy.  Ross has always walked in integrity and would give you the shirt off his back in a heartbeat.  He will also rip the shirt off your back if you hurt someone close to him.  Ross is always putting others before himself and working his hardest to provide for those he loves.  When Ross is not watching Star Wars or doing pushups in the Coast Guard he enjoys "teaching" his friends very painful new wrestling moves.   

i couldn't be prouder to walk down the aisle again

with this boy.

left overs + hot glue = necklace

my last few days of freedom {before school started} i came across this pinterest idea. the boy was away on drill and i was home alone...debating on cleaning the kitchen or a craft...hmmm crafting won :) i kind of threw together a bunch of left overs..added some hot glue and made a necklace. the pearls i bought years ago from the dollar store and have used them for christmas decorations. the ribbon was left over from something i did {can't remember}. and the heart and other doo~dad were from a bag of beads i bought for a bracelet...originally i wasn't planning on using them, however my knots to connect the ribbon and pearls were not so pretty. so this was my attempt to cover them up. 

i'm pretty happy with how it turned out

it's amazing what you can find around the house :)

thank you yet again pinterest.

dollar store earring holder

super easy, dollar store earring holder :) i got my inspiration from matsutake who used the base of a lamp, a larger frame and used it as a mood board. i loved the idea...however i have no where to put it in our little apartment {which is already crammed with diy projects in every available space possible}. so i decided to down scale...went to the dollar tree, bought a frame and a candle stick holder. then used up the last of my white spray paint and lightly sprayed it...ha lightly because i was running out :) but i kind of light that it wasn't white white. you can still see some of the black and gold trim from the picture frame. i took some left over black embroidery thread and very VERY tightly wrapped it around the sides, then used krazy glue to adhere it. two strands on the top and three on the bottom for extra hanging sturdiness. and yes, more krazy glue to attach the picture frame to the candle stick holder. 

tadaa {mine}

my inspiration...someday i'll make a real size one :)

what i had to buy

picture frame: $1.00

candle stick holder: $1.00

what i already had

embroidery thread: $0.39

spray paint: $3.87

krazy glue $2.35

our weekend

here's to a beautiful third christmas celebration weekend in oregon. it was a last minute trip, but also a much needed trip to be with and support family through life's craziness. and it was so worth it {fam always comes first}. plus first time seeing my aunt and uncle's new place. gorgeous. and my sister who i usually only get to see once a year..i got to see twice in one month. lucky girl. we were only able to squeeze in a day and a half trip between our work schedules...but it was a wonderful thirty~six hours. our first day was spent looking at waterfalls, lakes, lava tubes, natural bridges..absolutely breathtaking what God does. second day the girls crafted it up. i got a sewing machine from santa :) and my mom re~taught me what i learned back in fifth grade sewing camp. then my aunt showed us how to make lip balm and my mom gave us a tutorial of decorating spoons.

move your eyes to the left of his hand and up a tad

the snowball that i caught on camera..and most definitely not in my hand.

amazing weekend...i love my family.

pom pom necklace

so i'm just now posting about some of my christmas gift creations...better late than never right?! here is one of the BEST purchases i have made in a long time. i bought this collection of stretchy grey fabric from joann's remnant section, it cost me $2.29 {because remnants are half off} ...and made five necklaces and maybe sixteen hair accessories {i made so many i lost count} AND still have left over fabric. it's seriously the fabric that keeps giving :) here is the tutorial for the pom pom 'bib' necklace. i found this via pinterest and followed it over to little miss mama. i used a different type of fabric than her...i found this one was easier to manipulate..{and insanely cheap}

a low temperature glue gun is best...depends on the thickness of your fabric

you'll see later on that you pinch the fabric around the glue dot

i don't want your fingers to burn!

an additional half off that ... LOVE that remnant price :)

this has three chains with clasps and everything

reg $3.99 at michaels, but i used my 40% coupon 

and it was $2.39...steal!

cut five felt circles out..they don't have to be perfect because you'll be covering them up.

cut tons of circles out from the fabric about the same size as your felt circle.

i layered the fabric so i could cut multiple at a time.

using the glue gun, put a dot in the middle of the circle

then take your fingers and pinch the middle together.

keep pinching different sides and kind of tweak the fabric so it gathers like so

then hold the bottom {where the glue is} until it holds independently. 

the nice thing is that you don't have to make them all the same

...each one unique in their own way... :)

i went ahead and made a whole gallon ziplock bag amount of them.

take your circle felt, add a glue dot and place the little guy on top

and continue to do so..surrounding the first one you put down.

hot glue three of the pom pom's to your felt.

glue the ends of your necklace on top of the last two pom pom's.

flip them over and glue them to the felt

then cut out and trim around the pom pom's.

and you're done!

safe to say this necklace cost me $1.50 to make

probably even cheaper..but i wanted to cover everything

{chain, felt, fabric used, glue stick for the glue gun}

seconds on salad

confession...not a fan of most vegetables. in lieu of veggies we eat lots of fruit and salad...yum i love salad {yes i know it's technically a vegetable}. maybe it's all the yumminess i put on top OR the delicious dressings OR it could be that it's just so colorful. i saw on pinterest that keeping lettuce in a mason helps locks in the freshness and crisp...so that's what i've done..and every time i look in the fridge i can't help but smile.

 mason jar + lettuce = one very happy girl

prettiness.

things i love.